


A Tale of Desperation and Determination

by BrokenWorld1984



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: But I Don't Really Care, I know I said I gave up writing Undertale, I lied :), I'll be sticking to canon/headcanons from now on, and yes, but I couldn't get this outta my head so yeah, there may be other fics out there that have the same idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-03-26 11:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13857246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenWorld1984/pseuds/BrokenWorld1984
Summary: Asriel wakes up in the throne room, but something doesn't seem right...Shouldn't he be dead?





	1. Waking Up

_'Asriel,' a voice said. 'We have to do it now. Only six, remember?' Oh, he remembered alright. They'd discussed it plenty of times before it actually happened. When they died, he'd absorb their SOUL, cross the Barrier, take the souls of six more people, then break the Barrier once and for all. Like most kids' plans, it was far-fetched, and most likely impossible. But they did it anyway, and now here they are. Standing in a village plaza while all hell broke loose around them. 'I...'_  
'I can't do it.'  
'... what do you mean you can't do it?'  
'I mean exactly what I said, Chara! I can't take their SOULS, they're innocent people!'  
'This isn't the time to back out now.' The voice's tone rose, not quite yet a shout. 'We can't let my death be for nothing, can we?'  
'I'm sorry, but I ca--'  
His voice was cut off by the arrow piercing their chest. Then another near their neck, on their leg; every single one burning with pain. 

_'... I want to go home.'_  
'...'  
And with no other word spoken, the creature held the child's dead body close to it's chest, and walked back into the woods, towards the mountain, never to be seen again. 

\---------------------------------

Asriel woke up in the garden. Even though his vision was blurry, he knew it to be his parents' throne room by the chirping of the birds and the smell of the flowers. But even with the familiarity of the place, he couldn't shake the feeling of dread off him. Something wasn't right. He felt like he'd been asleep for forever. Not figuratively. He tried to piece together the events that he last remembered, and in a flash, it came flooding back.

He was supposed to be dead.

Fear gripped him as his sight became clearer.

_Oh, god what happened to me? Why can't I feel my arms? Where are my legs, oh golly oh gosh oh no what happened_

At this point, it occurred to him that his voice still worked. Asriel spent the next two minutes screaming. "MOM! D-DAD! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME? WHAT H-HAPPENED TO C-CHARA?! Oh golly, why does everything seem so big... what happened...?" His shouts faded away after he realized that nobody would be coming anytime soon. Mom and Dad's home was pretty far away, and judging by the amount of light coming from the windows, it was still early in the morning, meaning that Dad wouldn't be here watering the flowers until an hour or two gone by.

He passed the time looking at what happened to himself. His body was _green_ and thin. He had no limbs whatsoever (explaining why he couldn't feel his... or any appendages) and his floppy ears seemed to have turned yellow and... multiplied. It took a moment for Asriel to realize that he had somehow been turned into a flower. And-  
footsteps. He knew the sound those footsteps anywhere. It was Dad! Maybe he could help! "Dad! Down here, i-it's Asriel!"


	2. Asgore

Asgore was more than overjoyed to be with his son again. How could he not, after Tori left and... well, it's best not to linger on the past. Asriel was alive, somehow, and that was what mattered. He wanted to call up Tori and tell her the good news, but after what happened that day, he doubted she'd forgive him. The damage had been done, and now all of monsterkind expected him to destroy humanity. And even with the quirks of monsters, saying that your son was reincarnated as a sentient flower wasn't the best way to convey it. Best not to call.

But anyway, Asriel was as happy as before.  
Or so it seemed. He helped his dad water the plants (himself included; being watered was like drinking and bathing at the same time), laughed at jokes his dad told (even though he'd heard them before, but then again, that was literally a lifetime ago), but inside, he felt empty. The laughs he uttered didn't feel as wholehearted as before. The "I love you too"s he said to Dad were automatic responses instead of actual compassion. The boy he used to be was just... gone. He tried to smile genuinely, but it felt forced. He wanted to hide this part of him, this... unfeeling part of him. And hide it he did.

The very next day, he discovered something about his floral capabilities: He could burrow.

And that was what Asriel did, away from the palace, away from New Home. Back to his original Home. Where he found _her_.

Unlike Asgore, Toriel's reunion with her son was quieter. There was no need to shout. She simply let the tough exterior she had formed over the years go and knelt, hands in front of her muzzle, tears of joy falling. And Asriel almost felt what it was like to be loved again. Almost.   
But good times couldn't last. Soon, he grew bored of tending the flowerbed where Chara fell with Mom, reading about snails and history. He was just as empty as when he first started. So one night, he went away. He had no particular destination, but he did have one thought running through his head: What was the point of a life if you couldn't feel true love?

So he came to Hotland. The heat was nearly unbearable, but all thoughts and senses in Asriel's head were fuzzy. He was loosely rooted at the edge of a pathway, looking down into a pit of magma. Saying his goodbyes in his head, still not feeling anything, he let go of his grip and let himself fall. But as he plummeted to his death, an emotion he couldn't quite place struck him with a thought. _I don't want to die._ Of course, what was over with could not be undone... Unless there were exceptions. Asriel held onto the thought like a lifeline, and felt his essence be pulled gently, like he was in a dream.

Asriel woke up in the garden.


End file.
